The deal for Higuain is dragging on, Arsenal have made their interest in Rooney clear, but as Spurs sign £17m Paulinho, Wenger's latest deal is for a 20-year-old from Auxerre

There was a reason why Jack Walker had to make Kenny Dalglish the manager of Blackburn Rovers. Nobody wanted to be the first.

When Walker bought the club outright
in 1991, it was obvious he had big plans. The problem was that few were
sure how big, or whether Walker’s project would last. Don Mackay was the
manager and that wasn’t a name to fire imaginations either. It was only
when Dalglish joined the following October that top players began
taking Blackburn seriously.

If Dalglish had been persuaded out of
retirement, they reasoned, Blackburn must mean business. Without
Dalglish’s endorsement, there is no way Rovers could have assembled the
squad that won the Premier League in 1995. Somebody had to have faith.

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Statement of ambition: Jack Walker's (left) millions took Kenny Dalglish to Blackburn in 1991 - four years later the Premier League title followed

And that is how it is at Arsenal. The
deal for Gonzalo Higuain, seemingly completed several weeks ago, is
still dragging on; Arsenal have made their interest in Wayne Rooney
clear, without great encouragement.

While neighbours Tottenham Hotspur
have completed the transfer of Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, Arsenal’s
latest deal is for a 20-year-old from Auxerre, Yaya Sanogo, who arrives
on a free transfer. Having talked telephone numbers at the end of last
season, it all seems horribly familiar.

Could it be that Arsenal are
experiencing the same complication as Walker: they need to make a
marquee signing to make others believe in their project, but somebody
has to be the first to jump.
If Higuain signs, will Rooney warm to Arsenal, too? If Rooney and
Higuain are bought in, who else would come to regard Arsenal as an
option?

The problem is the club have spent so
long as the poor relations among the elite, with so many unfulfilled
promises of substantial investment, that the professional view is
sceptical: when they see it, they’ll believe it. But who wants to be
first?

Empty handed: The trophy wait goes on for Arsene Wenger, although new signing Yaya Sanogo netted for France Under 20s in the 4-1 win over Turkey

Formula One fans want to see real racing, not Sunday morning at Kwik-Fit

There is nothing more boring than a
puncture. One minute you’re moving; the next you’re stopped. Quite how
this most tedious element of modern motoring became the root of Formula
One racing in 2013 is a mystery. They might as well have installed
roadworks or traffic lights, or stuck all the drivers on various ring
roads at 4.45pm each Friday. See how the fastest men in the world cope
with nose to tail traffic.

‘And here comes Vettel, up the outside lane — and he’s ground to a halt, he’s ground to a halt. Huge mistake from Vettel there — he’s completely failed to spot that all the lorries are getting off at the M1, so that inside lane is going to be moving a lot faster. And Force India takes the lead — Paul Di Resta must be going at least 15mph now…’

How did we get here? How did a sport dedicated to breakneck thrills get to be about tyre management and tread degradation? Does anyone check the wear on Usain Bolt’s running spikes at the end of the 100 metres? Does it matter? Were you the fastest, Usain? Then here’s your gold medal.

What happened to having a race? What happened to encouraging track designs that made overtaking and driver duels occur naturally, rather than having them manufactured by disintegrating rubber?

Wheel danger: Jean-Eric Vergne's tyre explodes at Silverstone

The series of rear-wheel explosions that marred the British Grand Prix — and could have proven fatal were it not for extreme good fortune — are a direct result of a sport losing contact with its essence.

Just as rugby union is, at heart, not a bloody war of attrition but fit men running with the ball, so F1 isn’t about turning drivers into airline pilots with a control panel that wouldn’t look amiss on a 747. It’s about man taking machine to its limit. A quite simple sport really. How did it end up with tyre debris flying around the track because it needed a built-in mechanical flaw to make it interesting?

Pirelli messed up but deserve our sympathy. The company now looks as if it cannot make tyres when the reality is it can make ones that stand up to even the hardest racing perfectly well — but that isn’t the instruction.

A blow: Lewis Hamilton saw his hopes of winning at Silverstone dashed by this puncture

The order is for tyres that fall apart unless handled with consummate skill, requiring at least two pit stops per race, so there is more stop-start action, and more overtaking. Except low-life tyres and Silverstone’s big kerbs made for a potentially disastrous mix.

It shouldn’t have needed this crisis to highlight that something is wrong. When the British Grand Prix takes a backseat to the Tour de France on most pre-race bulletins, a substantial error is being made. Racing may be more exciting now than it was 10 to 15 years ago but if the public are more in thrall to two wheels, pedalled, the scheme isn’t working.

They want to see real racing — not Sunday morning at Kwik-Fit.

There is a piece of film in which Lewis Hamilton talks about the features on his Mercedes steering wheel. It takes him two minutes to explain them, 26 in all. Without doubt it provides insight into the brilliance of modern drivers, remembering the science and applying it to the tactics of the sport, with so little thinking time and under such pressure — but as the purely technical elements of F1 increase so the sport loses its soul. Brave men driving very fast. Even Hamilton says he hankers for a simpler age.

Hanging by a thread: Ferrari's Felipe Massa was one of five drivers to be hit by tyre problems

‘I think that would have brought a lot more out of me, the time before the driver aids came in,’ he said recently.

‘Now it’s so technical, sitting around talking about hydraulic dip. I have tons of buttons and to understand and utilise them all is a science in itself. You have to study — and the wheel is your bible.’

David Coulthard referred to tyre failure as a driver killer in a way engine failure was not. Clearly, as was demonstrated on Sunday, tyre issues are more random. There is loss of control, there is debris loose. It is no wonder the drivers are demanding resolution before the German Grand Prix.

The easy fix would be to go back to tyres that only need changing in adverse weather. Yet the problem is many of the new circuits are so dull in design, if that happened, races could turn into processions.

Maybe they could find another reason for drivers to enter the pit: to collect groceries, perhaps, or buy a lottery scratchcard. It would make as much sense as bringing together the world’s finest drivers — and sending them out on tyres designed to kill their speed, if not themselves.

IRB sidestep the Horwill stamp

Graeme Mew wisely did not ask whether Australian captain James Horwill had stamped on Alun Wyn Jones in the first British Lions Test. He asked instead if the initial decision of Nigel Hampton QC to clear him could be justified. This wrong-footed the IRB, who had as good as told Mew what decision to reach by holding a second hearing after Horwill’s acquittal.

Whether justice was done is another matter but Mew prevented the IRB being able to dictate the verdict of its hearings in future; we should be grateful for that. In essence, his conclusion was,

‘Gentlemen, I shouldn’t be here.’ A point on which we can all agree. Although we’re glad he was, just the same.

Relaxed mood: The momentum appears to be with Australia after James Horwill (left, pictured with coach Robbie Deans) was cleared to play in the third Test by the IRB

Carlo Ancelotti has been about a bit. He will have met a lot of coaches in his career at AC Milan, Juventus, Parma, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. He will know good men at other clubs, too. He has managed in four countries now: Italy, England, France and Spain. And, given all these options and solutions, the assistant he chose to accompany him to Real Madrid is Paul Clement, a former PE teacher, from Sutton. He first met Clement at Chelsea, and then took him to PSG, too.

Yet as another young England team reel from a tournament defeated, the names that are trotted out to map the future of English football are the same old, same old. Gareth Southgate, Peter Taylor, Sir Trevor Brooking, even Steve McClaren before he joined Harry Redknapp at Queens Park Rangers — all tried and trusted FA men. Yet, from within the ranks of English football, Ancelotti has unearthed a coach he wishes to work with some of the best players in the world.

There is a lesson here, if anyone at Wembley cared to heed it.

Sidekick powers: Paul Clement (second left) sits alongside Carlo Ancelotti during their stint at Paris Saint-Germain. Along with Claude Makelele (second right), the trio are now tasked with winning La Liga back from Barcelona

Hurry up, Laura, this is your time

At 19, it seems Laura Robson has all the time in the world.

In most other occupations this would be true. At 19, most of the future leaders in commerce or industry have not even left university or served their first apprenticeship. It is different in women’s tennis.

There have been 17 women’s Grand Slam champions since the turn of the millennium and the average age at which they won their first major tournament is 22.1; five were as young, or younger, than Robson is now, and only four were over the age of 25. Yes, Robson’s Wimbledon performance showed great hope but it is a dubious assumption that there will be many Grand Slam opportunities just like this.

With Serena Williams believed waiting in the quarter-finals, Robson’s defeat by Kaia Kanepi — a player stationed below her in the world rankings and beaten in straight sets — was regarded philosophically. Once Williams lost, however, re-evaluation occurred. This was a big chance for Robson — who knows when the next one will come along?

Sloane Stephens, who made the last eight at Wimbledon, having already reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, is only 20. Sabine Lisicki is 23; the same age as twice Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. These are Robson’s contemporaries, not the Rolling Stones.

She cannot, will not, wait these girls out because the next generation is already on the march and it will include the usual share of child proteges, players like Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic, who were all Grand Slam champions in their teens. Robson hasn’t got a lifetime to seize her moment — she needs to move fast. One of her best chances has already gone. It was this year.

And, deep down, her reaction suggests she knows it, too.

The sorry Price of LTA headhunting

Jennie Price is favourite to be the new chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association. Does she know tennis? Who can say, but she knows Odgers Berndtson, the headhunters in charge of LTA recruitment, and that is a start.

Price’s background is in law, construction and recycling. Lately, she has been chief executive of Sport England where Odgers recently placed a director of sport and a commercial director. So, trebles all round, and nice work if you can get it — which folk like Price always will, now they are on Odgers’ radar.

Shouldn’t the board of the LTA know more about who should run tennis than a global firm of headhunters? And, if they don’t, isn’t that the real reason the sport in Britain is in the cart?

The debate over Muirfield’s men-only membership policy continues as the Open Championship draws nearer. Some will argue a private club should be able to act as it wishes, pointing to the rich tale of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers — drafting the first 13 rules of golf to compete for a silver club as the Gentlemen Golfers of Edinburgh in 1744 — as evidence that tradition has more worth than kowtowing to modern correctness.

It is worth noting, however, that Merion, home of the 2013 US Open, has a fair bit of history, too. And in its beautifully understated and appointed clubhouse, there is an area devoted to its women’s section, which hosted the US Women’s Amateur Golf Championship as far back as 1904.

Merion was greatly influenced by Scottish golf, yet manages to have a fine past without still feeling the need to exclude 50 per cent of the population.

And how easy they make progress seem.

Single sex: Jim McArthur of Scotland the Chairman of the R&A Championship Committee poses with The Open Championship trophy at Muirfield

Is it just me, or does anyone care if they ever see Mo Farah do the Mobot again? What started off as a quirky, light-hearted celebration is now just another way to hawk a brand. The same goes for Gareth Bale’s heart-gesture celebration. Once it has been copyrighted and turned into a logo, fellas, you might as well be selling washing powder.